Black Bands
THE FOLLOWING PAGE IS JUST A DRAFT AND WORK TO EXPAND IT IS CURRENTLY UNDER WAY. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IS HIGHLY FRAGMENTED AND FOR THE MOST PART INCOMPLETE. VIEWER DISCRETION IS THUS A MUST, ALSO BECAUSE OF THE INEVITABLE SPOILERS.*** Introduction: The black bands are a major political party in Nova Polemos. Overview: The party was founded in 2030 after the burst of the economic bubble and the consequential crisis. It sought to return the city to its original splendor by using the iron fist against anyone deemed socially useless. Their most important target were the immigrants (both incoming and resident), as the party planned to close the borders and force expel any "socially invalid" individual. The extremist and nostalgic ideals found fertile growing ground in a population strangled by a struggling economy, resulting in people voting the party en masse in the upcoming elections as a way to vent their frustration. The result were the three most violent years the city's history ever witnessed, during which the police violently expelled more than 230.000 individuals deemed socially invalid and proceeded to slaughter anyone who tried to cross the borders after they were eventually closed as planned in 2036. The biggest culprits of this massacre would eventually be put under arrest, forcing the party to take a much more moderate stance in the following decades. Moderation remains however a very relative term when discussing the Black Bands, given even at present times they would go as far as spreading misinformation for their own benefits (according to their sources for example, Nova Polemos can boast the lowest worldwide rate of suicides and mental breakdowns). The party was also responsible for the introduction of the infamous Patterson test (somewhere between 2036 and 2046, likely within the only timespan that saw them in charge), whose alleged purpose is to determine the exact social worth of each individual. Many members of the black bands would deport immigrants if they were allowed to and also take a liking in showing out as privileged snobs in the attempt to recall past good days (which actually never existed). Support for the Black Bands appears to be widely spread throughout Nova Polemos: many minor characters (including police officers) take pride in showing it off and would even go as far as to use two tier standards depending on whether or not a certain behavior of theirs would ultimately favor the party. This is for example why Mordred was able to access the crime scene so easily in Chapter 1. The elections featured at the end of the same Chapter give a pretty clear picture of the magnitude of such support: although the ultimate outcome is directly affected by one of the players' former choices, the party will be capable to single handedly win either 48% or 75% of votes (in worst and best case scenario respectively), with oppositions finding themselves forced to coalize in a single opposition block in both cases. In case of defeat riots will also break out in the city asking for a return to vote (though it's very likely they were fomented by the Black Bands themselves in the first place). The party adopts a rhetoric that continously references concepts such as family, unity, honor and respect while also using dark shades for their flyers in order to deceptively promote feelings of fear among the public. In light of these traits and strategies the party can easily be labeled as an ultraconservative one, though multiple thought schools coexist within it (a trait that in real world is generally quite common among political parties that reach a certain size). The party leader and most popular figure, Richard Baker, is considered an exponent of the moderate wing while others are radical extremists. It should be noted in this sense that by admission of Baker himself his "moderate" stance stems merely from his refusal to use things like gender, religion or race as means of discrimination, implicitly implying once more that a quite significant part of the Black Bands is openly racist in the most traditional sense of the term. Political plots also seem to exist within the party itself: in Chapter 1 Anne Sherman assumes the reason Baker was arrested was due to his own colleagues trying to frame him in order to steal his place (she specifically mentions a certain Pierce and Finley, though these characters never eventually show up in the game).